The Grove's Atomic Cowboy unapologetically caters to patrons with attention deficit disorder.

The unofficial motto might be, "Why do one thing when you can do four or five or six?" There might be a fetish party hosted by ladies in latex police uniforms, a hip-hop concert, burlesque cabaret, salsa lessons or a live art show — all of which I've been witness to on the premises.

I stopped in on a Monday just after 10 p.m. for a nighttime nosh, craving gaucho fries and a cheeseburger wrap, but the kitchen had just closed.

The attentive bartender tempted me with experimental concoctions of vodkas and tequilas infused with cucumbers, peppers, mangos, strawberries and more. Instead, a friend chose a 'summer beer." I was only in the mood for water, so we took our glasses and headed into the Fox Hole, a black-box concert venue with the typical grunge decor of dark clubs.

We entered Ryan Spearman's open-mike session during a folksy, hipster performance by a singer named Westley, who reminded me of Jason Mraz. Each performer gets 15 minutes to shine or flop. There were more than two dozen people bobbing their heads, and I counted at least 18 acoustic guitar cases.

A chatty regular named Alice, who likes to jam with a fiddler and a banjo player, leaned over to ask whether I was there to perform.

The event ended at 1 a.m., and we planned to stay longer but ended up leaving in a hurry. A friend was shaking as he stifled giggles after seeing a gent dressed like a bayou blues crooner take the stage, only to sing in an incoherent, indie folk whine. The dichotomy was too much to bear.

On a portion of the 8,000-square-foot patio, which is largely undeveloped, an ultimate Frisbee team was hosting a small afterparty, but no one was taking advantage of the free dunk tank. So we left with a nod to DJ Nick O, who had set up his table inside for a midnight-to-3 a.m. techno-dance jam session.

• Bottom line: Atomic is one of those rare places where you can show up any night of the week and be sure that something kooky is happening that's worth watching, even if you choose to do so at a distance.